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Category Archives: all grades

Drawing Activities with Lynda Barry

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A drawing of a smiling monkey holding a heart that says "I'm so glad you're here!" with numerous hearts surrounding it on a whiteboard.

In April, I had the pleasure of attending the National Art Education Association conference in Minneapolis. I was really excited because Lynda Barry was going to be one of the keynote speakers. I have been a fan of her work for many years. Lynda is a comic/graphic novel artist, author and teacher and is known for her quirky, autobiographical work. Her raw and expressive comics encourage readers to explore their own creativity through writing and drawing. She has taught creative … Read more… →

Making Zines Art Project for Kids

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A display of six zines and comics on a striped fabric surface, including "A Simple Guide for Making Friends," "Life as an Axolotl," and others with various illustrations and text, showcases a creative art project for kids interested in making zines.

If you want to see the awesome zines my students made, check out my Kids Zine blog post by clicking here. If you are looking for my zine template, it is here. Yesterday I went to a really fun event called the Madison Print and Resist Zinefest. I have been to this before and it has always had loads of really interesting zines. I was on a mission this time though. I decided I am going to do a zine … Read more… →

Decorate a Lunch Bag- Service Learning Project

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Three hand-decorated lunch bags: one with sunflowers and a paw print, one with a large sunflower, and one with a rainbow, sun, and heart. Messages include "You are Pawsome" and "You Are Worth it!" This makes for an ideal service learning project.

Recently our school participated in a service learning project for all of our grades, K-8. The local senior center approached my co-worker Sharon who shared the project with me. The senior center was looking for students to decorate lunch bags to distribute to homebound seniors through the Meals on Wheels program. I thought this would be a great opportunity for our students to connect with the community and share kindness and cheer through their art. Here is an article from … Read more… →

Sweet New Children’s Book

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A sweet children's book titled "If You Are An Artist" by Meg Auchenbach, featuring an illustration of a child painting a rainbow with a butterfly nearby.

I came across a sweet new children’s book that I’d like to share with you. It is called If You Are an Artist, (Amazon affiliate link at no extra cost for you) by Meg Auchenbach. I always love finding new inspirational books for my young students and this one is a charming book that shows what it’s like to think as an artist. The illustrations are whimsical and the book is delightful. Before I buy a book I like to … Read more… →

Round-Up of Name Design Art Projects

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Book cover of "My Name" by Supriya Kelkar and Sandhya Prabhat, featuring an illustration of a child surrounded by various scenes of family, daily life, and name design art projects.

Hi! Today I have a round-up of Name Design art projects for you. Name projects are wonderful to do at the beginning of the year for a number of reasons. First, it is a great way to learn all your students’ names. Second, it’s a great way for students to share about themselves. You can easily tie in personal interests to name designs. Third, it’s a familiar subject matter to kids and a less intimidating way to start the year. … Read more… →

Giveaway- Drawing Games!

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Giveaway- Drawing Games!

Just in time for the holidays, I have a fun giveaway for 2 lucky readers. Two winners will each receive a copy of BOTH of the games pictured above. (USA only please) I learned about 2 new drawing games from Drawing Deck, LLC. They may look familiar to you because they also made the game Createures. My two kids at home made these monster drawings from the cards from the game! Aren’t they fun?! (Amazon Affiliate links have been used … Read more… →

Collaborative Mural Inspired by Tula Pink

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A colorful geometric art display featuring various patterned and brightly hued triangles on a green background, inspired by Tula Pink's designs.

I wanted to share our wonderful results of this collaborative mural project inspired by the artist Tula Pink‘s Tridazzler Quilt. This idea was created by Don Masse, of Shine Brite Zamorano. Check out his blog here to see the directions for this project. Here is the Tridazzler Quilt the project was inspired by. We precut squares and triangles for the kids. First, they glued the triangle to the square. Then they used a ruler to draw the lines and then … Read more… →

Printable Positive Adjectives

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Various positive adjectives in colorful, diverse fonts, including strong, wise, happy, creative, calm, unique, and peaceful.

Hi! I have something new to share with you. I’ve been working on making these printable positive adjective sheets. They are 4 different pages of positive adjectives to describe a person. They are printed in a variety of fonts and colors. These would be fun to use with Vision Boards, self-portraits and All About Me projects. All you have to do is print these on to paper, cut out the adjectives you want and glue them to your artwork to … Read more… →

Grid Name Design for Back to School

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A colorful drawing composed of repeated text spelling "MARCIA" in various alternating colors and patterns within a grid layout on white paper, creating an eye-catching grid name design perfect for back to school.

Are you looking for an easy back to school project for your students? Here is a name design that I have taught in the past. This will be easy for you to do, with very little prep. My own kiddo did this project in their 2nd grade class and that is where I got the idea. It is so simple yet makes cool results. All you need to do is print out the grid paper and maybe make an example … Read more… →

Back to School Tips and Projects for the Art Teacher

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Back to School! Tips and Projects for Art Class" text with colorful pencils and paper boats on a black background.

Hi friends! Many schools are already going back for the new school year and I thought I would round up some previous posts you may have missed from years ago that may help you come up with some ways to start your school year off right! The first section contains links and pictures from my blog. The second section contains blog posts from some of my art teacher friends! Tips and Projects for Back to School from Art is Basic … Read more… →

Neurographic Art

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Abstract artwork featuring colorful, interconnected shapes outlined in black on a white background, resembling Neurographic Art.

Neurographic art is an art form that was designed in 2014 by a Russian psychologist named Pavel Piskarov. It is an intuitive form of art that involves mindfulness and intentionality. We have over 100 billion neurons that transmit information from the brain to the rest of the body. These neurographic artworks kind of look like neurons and cells. Piskarev’s Definition: Neurographic art is a creative method of world transformation. It helps evolve our reality by engaging our emotional and aesthetic … Read more… →

All About Me Student Survey

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A student survey titled "All About Me" with 20 personal questions, including hobbies, favorites, and future aspirations.

Hi all! I’ve been working on a few things for my classroom and I wanted to share with you one new resource that is available in my TPT shop. It is an All About Me Student Survey. This is an interest survey perfect for the first couple of days of school. As an art teacher, I will use these surveys for my students to generate ideas for an All About Me silhouette artwork. (Last year I did an all about … Read more… →

Two Places to Get Free or Cheap Materials

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A young boy stands outside holding a large red crayon. He is wearing a blue shirt with cartoon faces on it.

Hi! I know I haven’t written in awhile. I hope you are doing well and had a great school year. It’s been a challenging time and I haven’t made blogging a priority. I’m still here though and making art! Now that summer is here I have a bit more free time, so maybe I’ll catch up on sharing some things with you. I wanted to share with you a couple places to get free or cheap materials– but you have … Read more… →

Art of the Brick: Nathan Sawaya Lego Exhibit

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A sculpture by Nathan Sawaya features a human figure made of yellow LEGO bricks, ripping open its chest with bricks spilling out. This piece is part of the "Art of the Brick" Lego exhibit.

Happy Spring! It is Spring Break for us and we took a little trip to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. We saw an awesome Lego exhibit at the museum by artist Nathan Sawaya. If you are in the area, I definitely recommend visiting the museum to see this exhibit. My favorite pieces were the ones in which he recreated famous works of art throughout art history. There were some impressive animal sculptures as well as a fantastic … Read more… →

Watercolor Pencils and Metallic Markers Product Review

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A variety of colored pencils arranged in a gradient, ranging from yellows to greens, blues, and more, on a grid background.

I was contacted by a representative at Grabie online marketplace, which I had never heard of before. Since I love trying out new supplies, I decided to go ahead with a product review. I also love to find and share different art supplies with other art teachers. They sent me two art supplies to try out. I was not compensated for my review, other than the free supplies. I told them I would be completely honest in my review and … Read more… →

  • Banner with colorful artwork promoting an art shop featuring kindness coloring pages, artist activities, and resources for teachers.